Bucks Doctors On Lookout For Tick-borne Disease Several Cases Reported In Montgomery County

July 16, 1986|by CHUCK AYERS, The Morning Call

Doctors in Bucks County are on the lookout for patients with the symptoms of Lyme disease, because several people in Montgomery County recently became ill after they were bitten by ticks.

While no cases of Lyme disease have been reported in Bucks County, Gordian Ehrlacher, public health administrator for the county Health Department, said, "The medical practitioners in the county have been alerted."

Ehrlacher added, "If it's as close as Montgomery County . . . I would say Bucks County would be in a similar situation of our residents being exposed to it."

The disease can lead to arthritis, heart ailments and meningitis if not treated promptly. Its incidence in Montgomery County has been limited to the Huntingdon Valley-Bryn Athyn area, according to Bob Jones, epidemiologist with the state Department of Health.

However, Jones said the department has received reports of several hundred cases of the disease statewide in the last year, up from only two or three cases the year before.

The infection usually causes a mild reaction consisting of a round,red lesion around the site of a tick bite that progressively enlarges to about the size of a grapefruit with a darkening of the center area of the ring.

The lesion generally develops within two or three days of the tick bite, but onset could be as long as several weeks, Jones said. Along with the infection, it is not unlikely to develop a fever, aches and other flu-like symptoms, he said.

Only after a long period of about a year do any more serious problems develop. The most common long-term ailment resulting from the bite is arthritis, he said, with an outside chance for neurological and cardiac problems.

Jones emphasized, however, that any long-term complications can be eliminated if the disease is dealt with at once.

"It is easily treated if treated early," he said.

The bacteria-carrying ticks are a specific strain of hard tick, Jones said, called Ixodes Dammini - one of several kinds of tick referred to more commonly as "deer ticks."

In its adult life it is associated with white-tailed deer, although it can be found on other host animals as well, which is why the tick presents a threat to people, according to Jones.

Jones said the department is uncertain whether the relatively high number of reported cases in the Delaware Valley is attributable to the high-density human population or whether there are more disease-carrying ticks in that area.

"There could be a swarm of the ticks in Tioga County, but because there aren't as many people, the incidence (of disease) may not be reflective of that," he said.

The problem is not limited to Pennsylvania, Jones said. New Jersey and New York have reported a dramatic increase in the number of reported cases of Lyme disease, he said.

So dramatic was the increase in New Jersey, he said, that officialsthere have deer checkpoints during hunting season at which they track the location of tick-hosting deer. That state also requires human incidence of the disease be reported to state health officials, he said.

To safeguard against the ticks, Ehrlacher recommended that when walking through wooded areas wear long-sleeved shirts and pants that fit snugly to prevent the bugs from contacting the skin.

Because it takes up to several hours for the tick to transmit the disease, he recommends a complete body-check for the bug as soon as possible after leaving a wooded area.

If a tick is found, he said use tweezers, get as close to the skin as possible, pull the bug free and clean the site with an antiseptic to reduce chances of infection.

He said also to obtain medical help if there is a problem removing the bug or if preliminary symptoms develop.